The present invention relates generally to the field of radar and other radio frequency (RF), microwave and millimeter wave frequency sensor systems. More specifically, the present invention relates generally to an electronically scanned array (ESA) radar system, such as an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar system.
AESAs may generally include multi-chip modules for control of the AESA but may be very complex and have a high chip count. For example, the multi-chip module may include various components such as controller chips, analog chip, transmit/receive switches and modules, power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers, local beam control, etc. Each component may be optimized for performance, but it may be labor intensive, high cost, and require significant calibration. In addition, rapid beam movement in ESA systems requires high data bandwidths to each individually controlled element. This high speed data bandwidth either limits the available beam to beam switching speeds or forces a complex very high speed data path to be available to ESA elements from a centralized beam control element at an appreciable cost. Distributed control and memory to minimizes data speeds and thus cost. Further, such a module may require extra maintenance, which may be an issue since an aircraft generally has to fly on a schedule, and limiting dispatchability or availability of the aircraft may be costly in a commercial airline setting. What is needed is a system and/or method that provides a lower cost operation of an AESA.
It would be desirable to provide a system and/or method that provides one or more of these or other advantageous features. Other features and advantages will be made apparent from the present specification. The teachings disclosed extend to those embodiments that fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the aforementioned needs.